Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 12, there is known a contact 110 comprising a pair of conductive members 120 and a biasing member 130 attached between the pair of conductive members 120 and biasing the pair of conductive members 120 toward each other, wherein each conductive member 120 has a base portion 121 and an attaching portion 122 formed at the base portion 121 and attached with the biasing member 130, wherein the base portion 121 of one of the conductive members 120 and the base portion 121 of the other conductive member 120 are disposed to be spaced apart from each other, and wherein at least one of the pair of conductive members 120 has a support portion 123 extending from the base portion 121 toward the other conductive member 120 to contact and support the other conductive member 120 (see Patent Document 1).
The contact 110 of FIG. 12 is adapted to be connected to a connection object (not illustrated) inserted from the outside by holding the connection object (not illustrated) between the pair of conductive members 120. However, if an external force is applied to the connection object in a pull-out direction in the state where the connection object is inserted into the contact 110, the connection object tends to come out of the contact 110.
On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, there is known a locking structure in which a relay terminal 210 adapted to be connected to a connection object 240 is provided with an elastically deformable claw piece 226 adapted to engage with the connection object 240, thereby preventing coming-off of the connection object 240 (see, e.g. Patent Document 2).
In the locking structure of FIGS. 13A and 13B, when attaching the connection object 240 to the relay terminal 210, first, the claw piece 226 is pushed by the connection object 240 inserted into the relay terminal 210 so as to be elastically deformed. Then, when a rectangular hole 241 formed in the connection object 240 reaches the position of the claw piece 226, the claw piece 226 enters the rectangular hole 241 so that the claw piece 226 is elastically restored. As a result, the rectangular hole 241 and the claw piece 226 engage with each other, thereby preventing coming-off of the connection object 240 from the relay terminal 210.